Long Time Coming
by CSullivan18
Summary: Chloe had begun to move on from Clark when a twist of fate brings him flying back to her. How will she cope? after all this time, is it really what she wants? My first Fan Fic Chlark.
1. A Long Day

_**Hey, everyone! This is my very first fan fic, so please be kind but please let me know what you think. This is definitely a Chlark story, though Lana will have her appearances. Anyway, on with the show. **_

Chapter 1 – A Long Day

Chloe sighed deeply as she looked at the blank computer screen, waiting for some fantastic idea to pop into her head. The familiar hustle and bustle of the Daily Planet, which was usually calming and a release to the young reporter made her feel extremely nervous. 'Being asked to submit a story worthy of the front page in one week is not an easy task' she mused to herself. 'Why can't they just give me a little peace and quiet?' She watched, mesmerised as the cursor flashed on the screen, as if by her intense gaze, a story might just leap onto the screen. She looked at her watch. 'Damn. I've been sitting here for 25 minutes and still no story.' She thought sadly as she packed up her things for the commute back to Smallville, thinking that Clark may be able to miraculously pull a story out of nowhere. Unfortunately, there are some things even that Kent charm can't help.

As Chloe began her ascent up the stairs, a familiar face walked past in the opposite direction. She stopped momentarily to look at him. Jimmy Olsen stood in the basement of the Planet looking around for something or someone that didn't seem to be there.

Chloe sighed again. She loved this young man once. He was very cute, in a bow tie kinda way. Her face saddened remembering the way things ended between them. Now she had to deal with running into him every day. Thank goodness they hadn't been put on assignment together...yet.

Chloe shook her head quickly. 'Come on, Sullivan, reminiscing about Jimmy is not going to get that article written. You'd better hurry if you want to get home before dark.' Chloe said to herself as she quickly walked to her car. Once outside, she took a deep breath of the all too familiar Metropolis air, before getting into her car and setting her sights for home.

Clark Kent sat quietly in the Talon, lost in his own thoughts. He was absently stirring the now cold cup of coffee in front of him. But he hadn't noticed. He was much too preoccupied by other things.

It had been almost a week since Lana moved out of the farm. He missed the company of another person there, but at the same time, he was glad and somewhat relieved that she had gone. He'd been in love with Lana Lang 'since before your first growth spurt' according to Chloe. But that was before. He thought he could forgive her for all the things she'd done; all the lies she'd told. In some part of his mind he had forgiven her and wanted to help her overcome this darkness. 'It's too late for that.' He thought sadly. In that time of forgiveness, he had found himself slowly falling out of love with her. The once strong feelings he had for her that had ruined or hurt every other relationship he had were now gone. And knowing he couldn't keep leading her on like that, he had ended it. He felt somewhat like a great weight had been lifted from him. Suddenly he was brought out of his thoughts by his cousin shaking his shoulder.

"Krypton to Kal-El." She said, somewhat annoyed.

"Clark." He replied firmly, looking around suspiciously, checking to see if anybody had heard her. Kara just rolled her eyes at him.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. What on earth could require such deep concentration?"

"Nothing." He replied hurriedly. He wasn't really in the mood to go explaining things to Kara at the moment.

"Well, it's time to close up. So if you're going to wait for Chloe to get home, you'd best do it elsewhere." She said, taking the untouched mug of coffee from in front of him. Clark stood up as she came back and handed him a fresh cup. "And by the way, baby cuz, don't worry about Lana. You've made a good decision and I'm sure she'll be fine." She said smiling. "Say hi to Chloe for me."

Clark smiled to himself as she walked away. 'she may not know all there is to being human, but at least her heart's in the right place.' He sighed deeply as he turned and walked up the stairs to Chloe's apartment to wait for her to get home.

_**Okay, guys, sorry it's short but this chapter is mainly to set the scene for the up coming chapters. Please R & R! **_

_**If anyone has any suggestions for what they would like Chloe's article to be about I would love to hear them. **_


	2. buried Feelings

_**A/N – Hey guys. Here's the next chapter. Again, still just introducing the story but i promise it will pick up on the next couple of chapters. **_

Chapter 2 – Buried Feelings

When Chloe finally reached the Talon, she was surprised to find Kara still there, leaning against the wall outside. She had been held up in Metropolis for a while to investigate a few leads for her story. Most of them had turned out to be dead ends, but a couple looked somewhat promising...for a by-line maybe. She had gotten into Smallville much later than she would have liked, but Kara was usually gone, way before then. She looked at the blonde smiling to herself at the friendship that the two had formed. Kara was still trying to adjust to life on earth, but unlike Clark, who had never seen his home planet, she missed Krypton. Kara suddenly looked up and saw Chloe. At first she looked somewhat disappointed, but her frown quickly turned to a smile. Though not fast enough to hide it from Chloe.

"Aw, why so sad to see me?" Chloe joked.

"Oh, not sad," Kara replied quickly, "I just thought you were someone...else."

Chloe thought for a second. "oh." She said, realising who. She was probably here waiting for Jimmy to pick her up. "Well, I'll leave you be then." She said, turning to leave.

"Clark's upstairs." Kara pointed out. She turned to look at Chloe. "And he's got coffee." She said with a smile. Chloe smiled.

"Thanks, Kara. Have fun." Chloe replied, returning the smile before opening the door and going upstairs.

Chloe walked through the door to find Clark sitting in front of the fireplace staring at it intently, lost in thought. She sighed deeply, bracing herself. As much as she had loved Jimmy, she loved this man more. She always had. But he had never seen her as more than his best friend. He was in love with Lana and nothing would change that. She looked at him again and realised something was wrong. He hadn't even realised she was there. And it's not like he couldn't hear her. 'With his super hearing, he probably heard my car backfire over near Evan's Field.' She thought to herself. 'Something's definitely troubling him.' She concluded.

Clark was again pulled back to the present as Chloe sat down beside him. His mood immediately brightened as he saw her. Chloe had an infectious smile that could brighten any room.

"Hey, Chloe." He said as he pulled her into a hug. Chloe tensed slightly as his arms wrapped around her. She could smell the all too familiar aroma of soap mingled with fresh hay. She felt the warmth and safety of his touch as she sank deeper into his embrace. Clark always had a way to make her forget about her troubles, or at least, put them away for a while, and she loved him for it. She 

moved her hand slightly on his upper back and felt him flinch slightly and shudder under her touch. She pulled herself slowly away to look at him and saw that he looked sad.

"Clark, what's wrong?" Chloe asked. Clark shook his head.

"It's nothing." He replied. Chloe looked at him clearly showing that she didn't believe his answer. Clark smirked at her as he gave in.

"Lana moved out." He finally said.

"Clark, I'm so sorry." Chloe said, placing her hand on top of his in a comforting way. Clark smiled at her.

"Don't be. I'm just not sure I made the right decision." He said.

"If she decided to move out, that was her decision. Don't blame yourself." Chloe said, reassuringly. Clark just shook his head.

"No." He said firmly. "I asked her to move out." He waited for Chloe's reaction but she couldn't shake the confused look off of her face. "I don't love her like that anymore." He stood up and turned away from her. "I don't even think I love her at all."

Chloe paused for a second as she processed what she'd just been told. After a moment, she stood up and walked towards him slowly, choosing her words carefully.

"How are you holding up?" she finally decided on.

"Okay, I guess." He replied, turning around halfway so she could see his face in profile. "I'm confused, Chloe. I thought that this was the way it was meant to be. And now, I'm not so sure anymore."

"Well, you were in love with her for a very long time. It's probably just going to take some getting used to. Don't worry." She said. Clark looked at the ground disbelievingly. "Don't worry. It'll work out." Chloe smiled. "And I know for a fact, Clark that you were meant for much greater things than Smallville." Clark continued to stare at the ground. "I'm serious, Clark." Chloe went on. "I know the future has more in store for you than Lana or I could ever imagine."

Clark smiled at her. He could always count on Chloe to lift his spirits when he was down. This girl was so special to him.

"Thanks, Chloe."

Chloe smiled. "Anytime, Clark." She took the now cold cup of coffee from his hands and held it up for him. Clark smiled before using his heat vision to heat it up again. Chloe took a grateful sip, before walking into the kitchen. Clark watched her walk as she walked away. He'd known her for such a long time, and they'd been best friends for just as long. There were so many things he loved about her. The way she never gave up until she got her story. The way her smile lit up everything around her. Most of all, he loved the fact that she would do anything to protect him or his secret. As a matter of fact, she had died for him once before. Chloe had a meteor power that meant she had the power to heal. Unfortunately, the way it worked was that she gave up some of her life, and she died 

for a period of time. Last time, she healed Lex to save Clark, she had no heartbeat for 14 hours. Clark worried so much that one day, she would heal someone and she wouldn't come back...at all. Clark watched his best friend, rummage around in the kitchen, her short blonde hair brushing lightly against her bare shoulders. The tip of her tongue was in between her teeth; something Chloe did often when she was concentrating. Clark suddenly felt a great yearning to hold her close, as if he would never see her again. He jumped up from where he was sitting, and flew to her side, pulling her close to him. Chloe was taken my surprise by his sudden movement. After the shock she wrapped her arms around him comfortingly. She could feel him shaking slightly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked. He was acting a little strange. When she looked at him, she could see a little bit of fear on his face. "Clark, tell me." She pleaded. Clark laughed half heartedly to himself.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Chloe." He said quietly, more to the floor than to her. Chloe was taken aback slightly.

"I'm not going anywhere, Clark." She said reassuringly. Clark looked at her disbelievingly. "I'm not. I promise." She said, more firmly. "I would never leave you. I care about you way too much." She added, looking at the ground, her cheeks going a slight shade of pink. Clark placed his hand beneath her chin, and pulled her face to look at him. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked at him. He slowly pulled her body closer to his. Chloe's hand moved from his waist to the small of his back. He wanted to hold her close and not let go. Chloe looked up into his beautiful baby blues, as all her buried feelings for him came flooding back. Suddenly she felt her eyes start to well up with tears as Clark's hand came up to stroke her cheek.

"No, Clark." She said, pulling away from him. "Not now."

Clark just looked at her. "Chloe..."

"No, Clark. I can't go through this again. Not now. Not so soon." She walked over to the fireplace hugging her arms around her. Clark just stood by the door, confused. Confused by the way she was acting, but even more confused by the way he was feeling.

"I think it's best if I go. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said quietly. Chloe continued to look into the fireplace. Chloe listened for him to leave before she buried her hands in her face and cried.

_**A/N – So things may be heating up a little. Please R&R!! I need five reviews to post the next chapter. I would still love some more ideas for Chloe's story. Thanks!! : D**_


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